Agricultural News

During the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasters Convention in Kansas City, Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Associate Farm Director Carson Horn had the chance to catch up with Kay Johnson Smith, president and CEO of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, about some of the latest trends being observed in the anti-animal agriculture movement to continue to push producers, small and large, out of business.

“Never a dull moment in the world of animal rights - and they have a multitude of tactics that they use,” Smith said. “One of the top ones we’ve been seeing this year is really the targeting of retailers, restaurants and even investors and companies that are publicly traded to try to present a very false and negative image of animal agriculture.”

Specifically, Smith says these groups are surreptitiously employing the use of undercover videos in an attempt to expose wrong-doing in production facilities, introducing shareholder resolutions within public companies, and in particular causing disruptions at food companies. She says by attacking these public-facing businesses, the activists hope to pressure them to adopt standards their groups deem fit. However, Smith insists these activist groups have but one goal in mind, as they discovered attending an anti-ag national convention earlier this year. Essentially, the hope of activists is the same as it has always been - to eliminate animal agriculture entirely.

“One of the themes we heard this year for their strategies was to drop the whole factory farm campaign, because they want to target farms of all sizes,” she said. “They think any farm where animals are raised for food is bad. They’re really going after not just the large companies anymore but small farms as well.”

Listen to Kay Johnson Smith of the Animal Agriculture Alliance speak frankly about the tactics being employed by animal rights activists in their campaign to end animal based food production, with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays, on today’s Beef Buzz.

The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network and is a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.